Abstract

Background:

Cannulating fenestrated pedicle screws are effective for fixating osteoporotic vertebrae. However, a major limitation is the excessive pressure required to inject a sufficient amount of cement into the vertebral body through the narrow hole of a pedicle screw. We have recently proposed a new cannulating fenestrated pedicle screw with a large hole diameter and a matched inner pin for screw-strength maintenance. Our purpose was to determine whether the new screw can significantly reduce bone-cement perfusion pressure during cement augmentation,

Methods:

Two different methods were used to examine perfusion pressure. Hagen–Poisseuille's flow model in a tube was used to calculate pressure drop in the bone-cement channel. Experimentally, both Newtonian silicone oil and bone-cement (polymethyl methacrylate) were tested using a cement pusher through the cannulating screw at a constant rate of 2ml/min.

Findings:

The internal hollow portion of the screw was the bottleneck of the perfusion, and the new design significantly reduced the perfusion pressure. Specifically, perfusion pressure dropped by 59% (P<0.05) when diameter size was doubled.

Interpretation:

The new design effectively improved the application of bone-cement augmentation with the ease of bone-cement perfusion, thereby enhancing operational safety.